Menu

Early-stage vaccine development in Rwanda by Akagera Medicines Africa Limited will be supported with €2 million financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB Global), according to a statement today by the EU financier. The new backing will accelerate research and development as well as manufacturing of new vaccines to treat infectious diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, Lassa fever, and Ebola.

The new financing will also be used to strengthen technical skills and expertise of Rwanda based teams to support home-grown discovery, manufacturing, and development of vaccine delivery systems within Rwanda.

EIB Global said the latest health financing is part of the wider EU Global Gateway initiative for Africa and is designed to unlock crucial investment to improve access to public healthcare. EIB Global said it supports high impact investment to enhance healthcare and pharmaceutical manufacturing across Africa, strengthen health resilience on the continent, and support equitable access to healthcare in Africa.

Akagera Medicines, Africa was established in Rwanda in July 2022 to develop the pharmaceutical sector of the country and elsewhere in Africa. The company is majority-owned by the Republic of Rwanda through the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB).

Speaking at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany, where the financing announcement was made, Michael Fairbanks, Chief Executive Officer of Akagera Medicines said: “We are a public private partnership and enjoy the support of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) in Norway, the Gates Foundation, and the National Institute of Health in Washington. With the significant support of the European Investment Bank, we are now a clinical company and moving faster to build human capacity and specialized infrastructure in Africa to support vaccine development.”

The financing to Akagera complements other EU initiatives in Rwanda and the region under the Global Gateway Flagship - Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines and Health Technologies (MAV+), which focus mainly on supporting the necessary ecosystem for vaccine manufacturing, said EIB Global.

MAV+ is supported by the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-AITF), established to increase investment in infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa.